Steering-reach rod.



A, D. WILT, JR. summum@ REAGE Ron, APPLICATION FILED MAY 14, 1912. 1,11*?,1'235 Patented NOV.10,1914

eww-M@ is the portion 13.

thereof. The portion-l2 is screw-thrceoed NTE iii

STEEEINGeREACH n ROD.

ruines;

Original application filed April 27, i910, Serial No.

To all 'whom it may concern Be it known that l, Minimi D. VILT, Jr., acitizen of the United States of America. residing at Detroit, count)v ofWayne and State of iflichigan, here invented certain new and usetiilimprovements in Steering- Reoch Rods, of which the following is a full.clear, endemict description.

This invention is ii division of my application Serial No. 557,96),tiled April 27, 1910, andrelatles to an improvement in SteerN in'reaches, radius rods, torsion rods, tie ro etc., and has among itsobjects to provide a forni of device which sheil 1oe simple andeconomical to manufacture and et the saine time shall minimi@ thedangers ot' breakage which not infrequently occur in devices of thischaracter.

The invention in its broad aspects resides in e reach formed of econtinuons piece of tubing 'Dent inward at en intermediate point to forme. shoulder irliicn is adapted to serve as a seat for a spring incombination. with means for connecting seid reach to o crank or othersuitable steering Ineens through e slotor aperture in reach.

Referring to the drawings, Figure is :i Side elevation of one forni ofthe device. being in this instance e steering reach rod.

and showing the same connected to n steer- `piece of tubing' from oneend to the other hut is reduced by en,v suitable method he tween theends thereof indicated :it lo. The portions of largerdiameter ere indicated zit ll and l while the portions of smaller diameter Vnrcindicii'ed ntl-' :ind le. Betnf'cen' the ter and welded or otherwisesecured thereto.

lcicrring to the connection shown or the left-hund side of the tiefnresthe end portion ll is prt ided with slot li? haring fin aperture i7snilicienilv if) therethicugl.. rl`he .shoiiidcr l() of th end portionll is adapted io :serve as :i sce 3c thereof for seid hic, and eproviection on the opposite sirio Specification of Letters Patent.

portions oi' snmller diurne shoulder iiirge to receive the heil l5 ofthe crank-erin Patented Nov. T1659 :357,963 Divided and this applicationiled El@ l' Serial No. 597,188.

interiorly et the outer end thereof to receive ,fr plug 23)i iifidedwith a projection 2li. One end of the spring Q5 shuts the said plugWhile the other end of said spring couts o. companion block provided'with e projection '27 on one side thereof, e spherical sent beingprovided on the other side thereof for the heli 18. The r.ssenihledrelation is clearl7 indicated in the ligiires :ind when in position,with the heil within he slot, and the plug 23 screwed up es shown,accidente-,l removal of the hail therefrom is ohriuted. For exemple ifthe spring' he broken the projection on the block will retreat outwardlyuntil ehe seme contacts with the projection Qi on the pini? but theletter is screwed inwardlr cnongl to prevent e sufficient outwardincrement of the 'block to uncover the err large" portion li" of theslot. A pin is employed to lock the plug 23 in its ediusted relation.will therefore he obvious from the construction shown thethe removal ofthe hell troni the slot can he accomplished h r nnscreving the plug Q3sniiicienlv to allow the block plunger to nncoi'er the aperture l?. itobvious thi-.t 'the nroiecricns QT und 24; on the block and nliig erenot essentiel. It ls snilicienfy if the construction is ,such toprevent. the hiocli 26 Vfrom uncovering the aperture l? enough to lionvthe hull i8 to pass ontw rdly therethrough. The opposite end l2 of thereach :ind c connection therefor ire 5 itc similar to Vthe end il undits oci-ated parte. vThe hall-- erin 2i. which for s, for cxnnipie, nwirt. of' the connections mth the running" Wheels, iis-erred throughAche enlarged portion 3l of the slot SSO. The blocks 32 end corre spondto blocks *2l and iii respectively while the sprii "Vi :ind ping 2&7;corresfiond to spri h ind ping 2G previously described. lit willthercorc he priori-ni' thnt this modification dillcrs Atroni theconstruction shown et the opposite end oi' the rod h3 the omission of n.eprinfn isi ll). the block itself resting in the View upon the smidshoulder. fi. iinneces ,sary to go into further details wi h regard tothese connections es they forni the siihiect. nnitter ot nig.'copendingr application chore referred o und :ire only hrieii)Y describedi of this application.

g' between the blocks 3i? and the herein n'nh n View to convey n. heiterunder? lli) materially simplifies previousA constructions.

0n account of the usual length of reach rods, torsion rods, radius rods,ctc., it must be remembered that portions muet. necessarily be Weldedtogether or united by some other suitable process to produce a rod ofsufficient length. This is one of the rhiet' impediments in themanufacture of the olii types of reach rods.

In the manufacture of the device the lWalls of the continuous piece oftubing are "i bent inwardlv at an`intermediatc point l0 'to form ashoulder by the'converging oil` the steel tubing is far superior to andstronger than the socket tubing made from bar stock and avoids the seamsor other defects of cold rolled steel. A Weld made from tubing to tubingis much stronger than a weld vfrom cold rolled steel to tubing, due tothe fact that the former materials are homogeneous. The reducing of thetubing in the "manner described makes it possible to gain accuracy indiameter of thev reduced portion of the'tubing such as is desirable andmost essential for proper welding. The tube can be looked through toascertain whether or not the Weld is properly made. The rod being madeessentially in one piece The fact that the rod is of continuous steeltubing throughout not only conserves lightness but the strength inproportion to the uantity of material used is maximum, and t eicost ofmanufacture is minimum.

The referred method of bending the walls ci) the tube inwardly at anintermediate point to form a. shoulder is by swaging.v it is to beunderstood, however, that wherever the term welding is usedin thedescription and claims, I mean any process by which the steel tubingscan be integrally united to accomplish substantially the pilrposes andfunctions ofthe iveldingpprocess.

What I claim is:

1. A reach rod connection, compising a crank arm with a ball thereon anda reach rod formed from pieces of tubing, the walls of one of saidpieces' of tubing bent inwardly at an intermediate point to form ashoulder, and the contracted portion of said piece of tubing Welded toanother of said pieces of tubing whereby a seat for a spring is formedby said inwardly bent portion and the welded joint may be inspected,fromI both the interior and the exterior ofsaid tubing 2. A steeringreach rod connection, com# prising a crank arm with aball thereon and areach rod formed from pieces of' tubing, the walls of one of saidpiecesot tubing bent inwardly at an intermediate' point by swaging toform a. shoulder, and the' con- Y tix-acted portion of said piece oftubing welded to another of said pieces ofl tubing wht-roby: a seat fora spring is formed by said inwardly bent portion and the Welded jointmay be inspected frornfboth the interior and exterior of said tubing.

3. A steering reach rod and connection comprising a steering crank armwith ball thereon, a reach rod formed from a continuous piece of tubinghaving the Walls' tin-rect bent inwardly' at an intermediate point toform a shoulder by the converging therein to permit socketingv the balland 'i with an extended slot for the lateral shifting of the ball arm,retaining blocks located within the tube on each side of the ball; aspring contained in the tubing, seated at one endvupon said shoulderandfat the other end upon the adjacent retaining block, and means formaintaining the blocks and spring in said tubular rod substantially asand for, the purpose described. 4. A connection, com rising an armpwitha ball thereon, a rod' ormed from a continuous piece of'tubing havingthe walls .thereof bent inwardly at an intermediate point to form ashoulder by the converging of said walls, said converging portion com--prising the continuous walls of the tube conf necting the portion of thetubular rodv of smaller diameter Aand the end portion of largerdiameter, said end portion being formed uith an aperture-therein topermit socketing of 'the ballV and having an ex' tended slot for thelateralshiftin ofy the. ball arm, retaining means locate within the tubeon each side of the' ball, and resilient means .contained in the tubingseated at one end -upon said shoulder and acting at the other end uponthe ball of the arm substantially as described and for the'purposeA setforth. V

'5. A'steering reach rod, comprisingbend portions, and an intermediateportion oi" tubing, one of said end portions consisting 'of tubing bentinwardly at an intermediate point to form a shoulder which is adaptedAto serve as a seat for a spring and also to form a part of smallerdiameter, Which'is `welded to the intermediate tubular portion ios isa

eonneefffg the end portions, and through whinh the Weided joint can beinspected from the interior.

A steering reach rod, comprising end poignns d? steel tubing and anintermediate portion slee of steel tubing, each of said end l:lorionsbeni inwardly at an intermediate point to 'ferm parts of iarger andsmaller r'ji-.lanetere1 each of the inwardly bent or if-onvergingportens Connecting the parts of larger and smaller diameter and forminga shoulder which is adapted to serve as a seat for a spring, and theintermediate tubular ertion of said reach rod bein Welded to each ofsaid parts of smaiier diameter.

7. A steering reach rod Comprising piecesv of steel tubing, the Wails ofone of said pieces of tubing being bent inwardly at an intermediate1point to form a shoulder and the contracted portion of said piece oftubing Welded to another of said pieces of steel tubing, whereby a seatfor a spring is formed by said inwardly bent portion and a Welded jointis effected between homogeneous metals.

In testimony whereof I ax my signature in the presence of twosubscribing Witnesses.

ABRAM D. Wim, JR.

Witnesses J. B. Haumann, ANNA MAILOY.

